Bringing public services to the public: interpreting and translating in healthcare settings for social cohesion
type: CreativeWork
description: Immigration in times of globalisation keeps confronting governments – including those in the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia – with increasing challenges in their efforts to integrate immigrant languages and to communicate with their users in public service settings. In all the four states, the governments demonstrate their agency by mandating, recommending, or referencing the use of Public Service Interpreting and Translation (PSIT) to various extents, as influenced by the legislation about equality and non-discrimination. PSIT provision in these four countries is initiated and provided by various stakeholders in diverse ways. However, against the heterogeneous landscape of PSIT provision there are research documents reporting insufficient provision and utilisation of PSIT in these countries. Meanwhile, negative beliefs around PSIT widely exist (for example, that it impedes immigrants’ integration), drawing even more attention to PSIT provision. In this context, this thesis contributes to research in PSIT by exploring the determinants or parameters for effective PSIT provision by taking into consideration multiple stakeholders. Effectiveness of PSIT is understood here as: (a) availability of PSIT of adequate quality, and (b) its optimum utilisation. This thesis emphasizes mainly the latter point, as relevant research in this sphere is scarce. To discuss and justify effective PSIT provision, this research explores to what extent effective PSIT can contribute to social cohesion: a goal officially pursued by these countries in terms of immigrant integration. In the literature discussing the value of PSIT, its role in social cohesion has not yet gained enough attention. Social cohesion (Jenson, 1998) branches out to be interdisciplinary, and involves dimensions such as belonging, inclusion, participation, recognition, etc. This research addresses this notion from the perspective of language policy (Spolsky, 2004). Controversies around PSIT are usually embedded in the te…
abstract: Immigration in times of globalisation keeps confronting governments – including those in the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia – with increasing challenges in their efforts to integrate immigrant languages and to communicate with their users in public service settings. In all the four states, the governments demonstrate their agency by mandating, recommending, or referencing the use of Public Service Interpreting and Translation (PSIT) to various extents, as influenced by the legislation about equality and non-discrimination. PSIT provision in these four countries is initiated and provided by various stakeholders in diverse ways. However, against the heterogeneous landscape of PSIT provision there are research documents reporting insufficient provision and utilisation of PSIT in these countries. Meanwhile, negative beliefs around PSIT widely exist (for example, that it impedes immigrants’ integration), drawing even more attention to PSIT provision. In this context, this thesis contributes to research in PSIT by exploring the determinants or parameters for effective PSIT provision by taking into consideration multiple stakeholders. Effectiveness of PSIT is understood here as: (a) availability of PSIT of adequate quality, and (b) its optimum utilisation. This thesis emphasizes mainly the latter point, as relevant research in this sphere is scarce. To discuss and justify effective PSIT provision, this research explores to what extent effective PSIT can contribute to social cohesion: a goal officially pursued by these countries in terms of immigrant integration. In the literature discussing the value of PSIT, its role in social cohesion has not yet gained enough attention. Social cohesion (Jenson, 1998) branches out to be interdisciplinary, and involves dimensions such as belonging, inclusion, participation, recognition, etc. This research addresses this notion from the perspective of language policy (Spolsky, 2004). Controversies around PSIT are usually embedded in the te…
author: Wang, Wanhong
language: eng
keywords: Public service interpreting translation (PSIT), effectiveness, translation policy
date published: 2020-12
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:55:38Z
provider: Queen's University Belfast
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Queen's University Belfast